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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2004)
KUCINICH PLANS STOPS IN CORVALLIS, EUGENE An opportunity to get up close and per- sonal with Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to hear what he has to say about the Democratic Party plat- form and various issues will happen Sunday, March 28. He arrives in Eugene Sunday morning and from noon to 1 pm he will be on Claude Offenbacher’s KLCC program. Beginning Dennis at 1:30 pm, Kucinich and Kucinich others will speak in LCC Building 19, Rooms 102-104. A question and answer period will follow. Before his Eugene appearance, he will be in Corvallis at 9:30 pm Saturday, March 27 at the Old World Center on 2nd Street and at 8:30 am Sunday at Burton’s restaurant, 3rd St. After his Eugene appearance, Kucinich will speak at 7 pm at the Douglas County Library Ford Room in Roseburg. Kucinich has visited Eugene several times and spoke here in May 2002 before he was a declared candidate for president. Although he’s no longer touting himself as a presidential candidate, he writes in a March 21 notice that his goal remains “to bring the focus of the Democratic Party to the principles we have consistently stood for — peace and social and economic justice — both in America and abroad.” For a detailed compilation of his speeches, see www.kucinich.us or www.kucinich-ore- gon.us — AS MORRISON CRITICIZED FOR CASINO COMMENTS A Florence resident and former member of the city’s Task Force on Casino Impacts has asked that County Commissioner Anna Morrison be removed as the commission’s representative in dealing with casino issues. Arnold E. Buchman, in a letter to the com- missioners March 13, said that Morrison told him and others that her involvement in the casino issues was a “waste of time” and that opposition to the casino was “an embarrass- ment” to her, and neighboring property own- ers opposed to the development “get what they deserve.” Buchman wrote, “referring to Florence city officials and residents, she [Morrison] stated she hoped that ‘the tribes clean your clock.’” “Ms. Morrison’s pro- fessed ‘embarrassment’ at the lawful, constitution- ally protected casino op- position from her con- stituency makes clear her disqualifying prejudice,” says Buchman. Morrison did not re- spond to an EW request for re- sponse. — TJT NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP APPEALS SCHOOL PLAN Far West Neighbors has filed an appeal of School District 4J’s plans to sell the Westmoreland Elementary School property. The issue goes before the Eugene Planning Commission at 6 pm Monday, March 29 in the Atrium’s Sloat Room across from the bus station. The property on West 18th and City View is 9.14 acres and plans are for about six acres to be sold to a developer and the remaining acreage would be sold to the city for low-income housing, according to Amy Murschall, chair of the Far West Neighbors. “This property has been used as an open space by surrounding residents for decades, and was utilized in the Jefferson/Far West Refinement Plan as a location of open space for the neighbor- hood,” says Murschall. She says the process sur- rounding decision-making “did not provide an adequate opportunity for the neighbors or the neighborhood association to take part.” HOPSICKER, MILLEGAN TALK ABOUT COVER-UP Was there a massive FBI-led cover-up in Florida to conceal the true story of how terrorist Mohamed Atta and others learned to fly air- liners? Was the CIA not “asleep at the switch,” but BY PAUL NEEVEL KATHLEEN WILSON Connecticut native Kathleen Wilson first hit Eugene in the mid-’80s, when she took a marketing job at Williams- Wilson autos. She was diag- nosed with multiple sclerosis when she lost her eyesight overnight in 1988. “It took a year, but I recovered,” says Wilson, who went on to open a small ad agency in San Francisco. She was pursuing photography in Greece when she began to notice numbness in her right hand and ankle. “I came back to the U.S. in a wheelchair in June of ’95,” she notes. “By the fall, I was able to walk, but I felt horrible.” She bought a Mac in October to search the web for MS support groups. “I found nothing, but I knew in my heart that this would be the way to help people,” says Wilson, who began to look into online chat rooms. “On July 10 of ’96, I had 10 people in my own chat room.” Eight years later, her initial chat room has grown into MSWorld, a website (www.msworld.org) with multiple chat rooms and message boards that attracts 10,000 visits daily. “We have 32 volunteers who run the site, all of them with MS,” says Wilson, who moved back to Eugene four months ago. “Our motto is ‘Patients Helping Patients.’ People can find someone to talk to 24/7.” 8 MARCH 25, 2004 actually running the operation? Daniel Hopsicker, author of Welcome to Terrorland, his new book about Mohamed Atta, will be giving a free lecture and signing books from 5 to 8 pm Wednesday, March 31 at Tsunami Books. The Florida journalist will also be speaking and showing unpublished video footage from 6 to 8:30 pm Friday, April 2 at Cozmic Pizza, 199 W. 8th at Charnelton. The second event has a suggested donation of $5. Joining him at both events will be Kris Millegan, editor of Fleshing Out Skull & Bones: Investigations into America’s Most Powerful Secret Society. Hopsicker and Millegan will be speaking at the “International Inquiry into 9-11, Phase One” gathering that runs March 26-28 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The conference features the work of top in- dependent researchers, ac- tivists and 9/11 widows. Other Eugeneans, including Mark Robinowitz, will be participating in the gather- ing. Hopsicker’s new book is the result of a two- year investigation including interviews with Mohamed Atta’s girlfriend, and following con- nections to Germany. “For at least four of Atta’s seven years living in Hamburg,” writes Hopsicker, “he was part of a ‘joint venture’ be- tween the U.S. and German Governments, an elite international ‘exchange’ program run by a little-known private organization which has close ties to powerful American political fig- ures like David Rockefeller and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.” The book has also been translated into German. Hopsicker also wrote Barry and the Boys: the CIA, the Mob and America’s Secret History, and has produced numerous videos on drug smuggling, organized crime and “out of con- trol” U.S. government agencies. The books by Hopsicker and Millegan are published in the Eugene area by MadCow Press, which has printed about 11,000 books to date. Millegan’s company Trine Day has printed about 29,000 books. Millegan says Fleshing Out Skull & Bones is “selling very well” and is “already com- pletely selling out its first printing in less than three months, rising up to 238 at Amazon and 554 at Barnes & Noble.” He says the second printing is almost sold out in one month. with 2,000 and 3,000 runs. Millegan says he’s fi- nancing the publishing business with borrowed money and uses book sales to print more books. “We have some very interesting books coming out: Ambushed by Toby Rogers breaks major stories about the Bush family corruption. To Kill a Country about the JFK assassination, a very explosive books about political corrup- tion in California, and three other titles,” he says. For more information, contact ramille- gan@aol.com or visit www.madcowprod.com or http://barry.madcowprod.com — TJT ACTIVIST ALERTS • Local peace activist Peg Morton, 73, will begin serving her sentence in federal prison on April 6. She was sentenced to 90 days in prison for crossing the line at Ft. Benning Army Base in Georgia during a protest against the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas, which trains dictators and military leaders in other coun- tries. Morton was ex- pecting a six- month sentence, but only re- ceived three months be- cause of med- ical conditions. She was not fined, Peg but her Social Morton Security pension will be withheld while she’s in prison. A benefit for Peg Morton’s prison expenses, SOA Watch, and CISCAP will be from 6-9 pm, Sunday, March 28, at Cozmic Pizza. Music, open mic poetry, a silent auction and seed give- away are part of the events. Donations for the silent auctions, which can include good condi- tion CDs, books, artwork, household items, service gifts and more, can be dropped off at the CISCAP office, 458 Blair. Call ahead at 485-8633, or bring items to the event. WAND’s Minutewomen will launch a cam- paign at the event that includes having people write a total of 90 postcards to be mailed one at a time to Morton each day she’s in prison. • An April Fool’s, Ghouls and Jewel’s Masquerade Ball is a gala benefit for the Eugene Peaceworks/CALC Committee to
